Not Applicable
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to plumbing products particularly to water saving dual flush valves for gravity flow toilet water-closets.
2. Description of Prior Art
The need for water conservation is widely recognized as an issue that must be addressed by all people. Drought and pollution in addition to over use of limited resources have led to fresh water shortages in many parts of the world. Some communities have placed limits on the use of water and provide for fines when users exceed their limit. Cities are now, at considerable expense, recycling waste water back in to the fresh water supply. Some communities have limited their growth due to the lack of fresh water and over use demands on waste treatment facilities.
One of the ways in which fresh water is over used and wasted is in the toilet flush system. An estimated average use of 40% of the total of household water consumption is flushed from the toilet to the sewer or septic systems. It is now understood that significant amounts of fresh water can be saved by making more efficient toilet flush systems. Older toilet water-closets were not designed with water conservation in mind and may typically use five or more gallons of water per flush (gpf). Water-closets designed after 1980 were designed to hold a smaller amount and will typically use 3.5 gpf. Now, as of 1994, it is necessary for all U.S. made water-closets to use only 1.6 gpf on average. It is now becoming common for commnunities to provide expensive replacement low flow toilets in an effort to curtail water usage and waste water treatment burdens.
This recognized necessity to conserve water has created the need to develop a more efficient way of regulating water use in new and existing toilet flush systems. The prior art is plentiful in this field and shows many attempts at inventing ways to economize the flush system. Some of the more popular ways that the problem has been addressed are to utilize means to limit the amount of water used by causing the flush cycle to terminate early and thereby save water. Other methods utilize water displacement systems such as water dams or containers within the water-closet to reduce the amount of useable water per flush. Still others use two valves located at different levels within the water closet thereby providing selective dual flush modes. Some systems require the user to manually hold the flush valve open throughout the flush cycle to achieve desired results.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,110 to Richter (1992) shows an early close valve system that contains a weight in the valve to make it non-buoyant allowing selective flush, however, the user must manually hold open the. valve to operate the system throughout the entire flush process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,563 to Jarosiinski et al. (2003) shows a flush valve adapter for converting to dual flush by using two valves located at different levels within the water closet. This system requires that the toilet be disassembled and retrofitted with new hardware including dual flush arms for activation of the two flush modes. These types of system require more room in the very limited water-closet space and may not be universal in their fitment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,190 to Nguyen-Huu (1993) shows a type of water darn utilizing an extension devise to raise the outlet level within the water closet. This system requires retrofit of the existing hardware in the water closet and only allows one volume of flush for all applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,501 to Kloner (1984) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,253 to Zamudio-Castillo et al. (1996) both show complicated systems of hardware arranged in the water closet to allow dual flush modes. These systems require precise adjustment of multiple levers and connecting arms with multiple arms and other attachments connectively relying on each other for proper function.
Some of the major drawbacks of these and other current inventions are that they require major modification of existing hardware in the water-closets or they simply will not work in current water-closet toilet design systems. Some systems are so complicated that they make reliability doubtful. Additionally, cost and difficult instillation are barriers to popularity and wide spread use. Some developments require the user to make due with one small inefficient volume of water for all flush needs thereby resulting in the need for multiple flushes to clear the bowl.
It has been noted by research done after low flow toilets have been installed (five year followup) that replacement low flow valves are not readily available and that most replacement valves used are not of the original low flow type and thereby the water saving effort is negated. Follow-up research done on low flow toilets shows that approximately 42.9% of these water saving toilet systems experience problems from leaks, clogs, inefficient flush, or excessive water use.
Many of the single flush systems try to accommodate liquid and solid waste removal with one volume of flush water. This attempt to compromise results in over use for liquids and inefficient volumes for solids. Low volume flushes are often the cause of clogs due to inefficient drain-line carry. Plumbing systems are engineered and constructed to function with predetermined volumes of waste water flow. Therefore, changing to low flow single flush toilets or single flush valving will prove inefficient in many applications. Additionally, most toilets are designed to use larger volumes of water to create scorer and scrub turbulence in the flush action to throughly clean the bowl. The flush cleaning turbulence action of larger water volumes is not necessary when clearing liquid and tissue waste only. Government sponsored toilet replacement programs are expensive and problematic in that they require professional installation and create waste by scraping the old toilet. Many people will not accept trading in their older reliable toilet for one that is of greater cost and less reliability. Toilet replacement and water recycling programs are very long term projects that do not fulfill immediate needs to conserve water and energy resources.
It is therefore necessary to develop a water saving flush system that fits and works with existing toilet structures and hardware. Likewise it is necessary to provide a flush system that is inexpensive to manufacture, purchase, distribute, and install. To be accepted by the public a water saving flush system must reliably perform its intended function without any complicated use techniques to learn. Also, it is necessary to utilize two flush modes to take advantage of maximum water savings while still getting the job done to the satisfaction of the user. Likewise it is necessary to develop a flush system that will work with existing plumbing designs in order to completely clear both the toilet bowl and the sewer lines. It is also desirable to have a simple retrofit water saving flush system of valving that can be made immediately available to entire communities. It is likewise necessary for the 1.6 gpf standard to be achieved in new applications to allow manufactures to certify their products. Most importantly, it is necessary to develop a toilet flush system that will save water and energy resources while reducing demands on waste water treatment and fresh water delivery systems.
It is the object and advantage of the present invention to provide a water saving dual flush system of valving for gravity flow toilets. Further objects and advantages of the present invention are as follows:
(a) Provides the user with the option of water saving low volume flushes for liquid waste or larger flush volume for complete removal of solids.
(b) To provide a dual flush valving system that fits in existing water-closets without modification to existing hardware.
(c) Fully functional with both single flush handle arrangements and dual handle flush actuation assemblies.
(d) A valving system that can be installed in seconds by any ordinary person without tools. No need for an expensive professional plumber to install.
(e) A dual flush valving system that can be operatively learned the first time used.
(f) A user friendly flush system that is fully automatic flush and forget technology with no need for the operator to stand by and manually operate the system. The toilet will automatically refill and be ready for the next use.
(g) To provide a dual flush valving system that is based on proven, reliable technology.
(h) To provide a complete valving retrofit system that is both low cost to manufacture and purchase.
(I) A dual flush valving system that is adjustable for compatibility with various water-closet designs and can be pre-set to meet specific water use requirements.
(j) To provide satisfactory drain-line carry flow characteristics to prevent clogs and drain-line corrosion. Additionally, proper volumes of water prevent the need for double flushing.
(k) To dramatically reduce the percentage of wasted water flushed to the sewer system and reduce the amount of waste water treatment needed by that same amount.
(l) To relieve the burden on fresh water supply systems and save the energy previously required to deliver water. Well pumps and transfer pwnps will require less run time to provide ample water thereby saving energy.
(m) Septic systems will last longer, work more efficiently, and the ground water will receive less pollution from this source.
These and other Objects and Advantages of the present invention will be made apparent when considering the attached specification and drawings.